1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable grill with telescoping legs which is suitable for being carried in a backpack.
2. Description of Related Art
Grilling is an extremely popular method of cooking. Grilling enhances the flavor of food while resulting in the addition of less! fat to food as compared to other cooking techniques such as frying. In fact, grilling reduces the fat content of food by allowing the fat to drip away from the food. To enjoy the many health benefits of grilled food, backyard barbecue grills have become very popular and can be found in many households. These back-yard barbecue grills use charcoal or charcoal briquettes as fuel.
Grilling foods is also extremely popular among outdoor enthusiasts. Hunters, campers, hikers, and mountain climbers often, grill their food because grilling is well suited for outdoor use and can make use of fuels that are readily available in nature. However, the grills used for backyard barbecues are too heavy and bulky to be suitable for use by campers, hikers, and the like. These types of outdoor enthusiasts need grills that are light and compact. For this reason portable grills have been proposed in the art, and examples of such grills are discussed in some of the references cited below. However, none of the references cited below teach or suggest the unique structural features of the portable grill of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,901, issued to Ming-Tang Chen on Sep. 10, 1985, shows a grill having rotating racks which support the food items as the food items are being cooked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,812, issued to Dan Kellerman on Nov. 8, 1988, shows a meat grilling device including an open box and a disposable fuel pack which is enclosed in a wire mesh box. In the device of Kellerman, the wire mesh box serves as the, rack for holding the meat as it is cooked.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,813, issued to Robert J. Kopke on Nov. 8, 1988, shows collapsible grill having a folding circular rack supported by three detachable legs. The detachable legs of the Kopke device each have a plurality of notches that can be engaged by the peripheral rim of the circular rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,725, issued to James O. Barron, Jr. on Feb. 13, 1990, shows a barbecue grill that can use charcoal or propane at the option of the user. The grill of Barron, Jr. includes a slidably removable drip tray which underlies removable burners. The drip tray of Barron, Jr. holds the charcoal when the grill is being used as a charcoal grill.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,715, issued to John Sir on Jun. 2, 1991, shows a tripod for alternatively supporting a charcoal grill, a cooking pot, or a rotisserie, with the tripod being used to support the rotisserie and the pot over an open fire.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,734, issued to Bernard Elliott on Nov. 19, 1991, shows a portable grill including a rack supported on a bottom pan and a top pan which fits over the rack. The bottom pan of Elliott is designed to be removably supported atop a four legged stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,414, issued to James P. Haynes, Jr. on Nov. 17, 1992, shows a barbecue grill having a rack supported by a pan which is in turn supported by two pairs of legs, with each pair of legs being pivotally attached to the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,027, issued to Marshall Saldana on Feb. 2, 1993, shows a modular barbecue grill including a firebox supported atop a post and a rack which fits over the firebox. An apron frame surrounds the firebox of Saldana for convenient placement of food and utensils.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,859, issued to Mikhail Lisker on Mar. 15, 1994, shows a barbecue grill having an open support lattice surrounded by upright walls. The support lattice supports fuel modules comprising charcoal briquettes supported in a non-flammable pan. The upright walls support a variety of accessories, such as a rotisserie, skewers, and a grill rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,045, issued to Abdul-Razzak Faraj on Oct. 14, 1997, shows a barbecue grill having a slanted heat directing surface and a slanted cooking rack positioned in parallel to the slanted heat directing surface. The grill of Faraj also includes a vertical heat directing surface positioned such that both sides of food placed on the cooking rack are cooked simultaneously.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,9G2, issued to Robert Goldyn on Sep. 8, 1998, shows a grill for cooking over an open fire. The grill of Goldyn includes a circular grill rack supported by four legs of fixed length. The grill of Goldyn also has provision for supporting various accessories such as a rotisserie and skewers above the circular grill rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,720, issued to Robert L. Schubert on Oct. 13, 1998, shows a variable length post having a flange at one end and a ground penetrating portion at the other end. The, flange of the Schubert device allows the variable length post to be attached to the bottom of a portable barbecue grill.
Canadian Patent Number 911,835, issued to Orla D. Thompson on Oct. 10, 1972, shows a barbecue grill with a rotating cooking rack.
Canadian Patent Number 934,625, issued to Arthur L. Close, Jr. on Oct. 2, 1973, shows a barbecue grill with means to independently vary the heights of the cooking rack and the rack for holding the charcoal, relative to the bowl of the grill.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly, or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.